It stars Susan Sarandon, James Spader, Jason Alexander, Kathy Bates, Steven Hill, Jeremy Piven, and Renée Taylor.

It was written by Ted Tally and Alvin Sargent, based on the novel of the same name by Glenn Savan (who appears in the film as an extra with a small speaking part).

Twenty-seven-year-old St. Louis advertising executive Max Baron has shut himself off from the world in the two years since the auto accident that killed his wife Janey.

En route to his friend Neil's bachelor party, Max picks up fifty burgers from a diner called White Palace.

After visiting Janey's grave on the second anniversary of her death, Max returns to White Palace to watch a busy Nora from a distance.

While at the supermarket with Nora, Max leaves her at the counter and runs into Neil's wife, Rachel, who invites him and his "mystery woman" to Thanksgiving.

Max clears the table of its contents and lays a laughing Nora down on it, climbing on top of her and kissing her, while the whole restaurant cheers and applauds.

However, for reasons unknown, the studio removed all the scenes, which meant that Gershon's entire role ended up on the cutting room floor, and she no longer appears in the film.

This also meant that Kathy Bates's role of Rosemary, Max's boss, was greatly reduced, now appearing very briefly in the finished film in a couple of scenes, in only one of which she has some dialogue.

In the January 1995 issue of Movieline magazine, Susan Sarandon revealed she was very nervous before doing the infamous oral sex scene with James Spader.

Roger Ebert wrote that the film is at its best when exploring the two main leads' "nonconforming relationship" outside of their social circles and suffers when going through the "same sappy romantic clichés as countless other love stories."

"[8] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune wrote that "the film manages to avoid the more interesting problem area of what will happen to the couple once they decide to settle down and live openly together.

"[10] Janet Maslin of The New York Times was critical of the "unconvincing" production design of the "nouveau riche" and "squalid" sides of St. Louis and the "badly cast" supporting characters for diminishing the overall plot, but gave praise to Spader and Sarandon for elevating the "many preconceptions and clichés" throughout the material, highlighting the latter for giving "a zesty, spirited, fully formed performance".